Relatives were returning after attending last rites of martyr ASI
STATE TIMES NEWS
Ramban: Five people, including four women, were killed and three others injured on Tuesday when a private passenger vehicle veered off the road and plunged into a deep gorge in Ramban district, officials said.
The vehicle was carrying mourners who were returning after attending the last rites of Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) of J-K Police Ghulam Hassan who along with two junior colleagues was killed in a terrorist attack on the outskirts of Srinagar on Monday evening.
The accident took place on a link road near Chuchaiter village, connecting Rajgarh with Ramban district headquarters on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, Deputy Commissioner, Ramban, Masrat-ul-Islam told PTI.
He said the driver lost control as a result of which the vehicle rolled down several hundred feet into Chimotri nallah, resulting in the on-the-spot death of five persons and injuries to three others.
One of the injured was shifted to district hospital Ramban, while two others are undergoing treatment at a nearby health facility, Islam said.
He said the deceased were relatives of ASI Ghulam Hassan and were returning to their Topneel village of Doda district after attending his last rites which were performed with state honours at his Chillai-Bartund village.
The Deputy Commissioner himself had attended the funeral and rushed to the scene of the accident to monitor the rescue operation, officials said, adding that he has assured financial assistance of Rs 30000 to the next of the kin of deceased and Rs 25000 in favour of those injured.
The DC has urged the drivers to drive with utmost care on the Chanderkot- Rajgarh- Chuchattar road and added that the district administration will submit a proposal for installation of crash barriers and parapets to safeguard the lives of those commuting on the road.
They said four of the deceased are women and the identity of the deceased was awaited.
ASI Hassan, constables Shafeeq Ali and Rameez Ahmad of 9th Battalion, Jammu and Kashmir Armed Police, were killed when terrorists attacked their bus in the Zewan area of Panthachowk on the outskirts of Srinagar. Another injured cop attained martyrdom this afternoon, raising the number to three.